Members of Durham County Council’s Cabinet heard proposals for the future of the authority’s Care Connect service at a meeting on Wednesday, 18 December.
Care Connect provides a round-the-clock alarm monitoring and response service for older and vulnerable people living in their own homes.
As part of its Medium Term Financial Plan, the council needs to reduce the cost of providing the service by £1m from 2014.
Cabinet was being asked to agree to a number of proposals which would enable the service to make the required savings.
These include changes to the way in which customers are assessed as well as improvements and efficiencies such as vehicle sharing and a review of telephony costs.
Cllr Eddie Tomlinson, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for housing and rural issues, said: “A review of the Care Connect service identified a number of savings that could be made through changes to our general ways of working.
“However, more fundamental changes to the way the service is delivered are needed in order to make the savings required as a result of the current budget pressures.
“We are considering options as to how to maintain the high level of service customers currently receive without reducing the core of the service – the ability to respond to vulnerable needs.”
Under current arrangements, customers’ needs are assessed every 13-weeks. Changing this to an annual assessment would create significant savings and would bring Care Connect in line with other services.
The change would not affect access to the 24/7 control room or response service.
Around 13,400 households currently receive a Care Connect service for free while a further 4,700 private customers pay a weekly charge.
Service users can contact the control room on 03000 262 195 if they would like to discuss the proposals